#1
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Oliv/Eudoxa longevity
Hi all.... the time for a string change is rapidly approaching, and I want to try the Oliv/Eudoxa thing. I'm looking forward to it, and the only trepidation I have is that some folks have had issues with the windings coming apart. Ken, I know that you, and others like Don Higdon, have used them successfully without any problems. I plan to modify the nut and bridge slots to fit the strings, and use graphite as always.
Just wanted to hear anyone else's take on this, I know it's been discussed elsewhere before, but not in this forum. Is it necessary to baby these strings in any way? I don't really abuse strings, but I don't have a feather-light touch either. Thanks, MJ |
#2
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I've been using Oliv G&D with Obligato A&E for about 3 months. No nut groove widening or problems. They seem to hold up for me (and I too can dig in pretty hard at times). The Olivs still are a little unruly tuning wise, but that's more like overnight or going from warm to cold.
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#3
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I still want to try the Oliv/Eudoxa combo, but some recent posting on TalkBass is giving me the willies. Same old stuff; windings coming undone, strings falling apart. Someone stated that there were some bad batches being sent out at the moment, and that Lemur was considering halting distribution of Pirastro wound guts until it's fixed. I don't know if that's true, but it isn't exactly making me want to pull out the credit card at the moment.
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#4
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Olidoxas..
Wasn't this discussed to death somewhere else recently or was that just a bad dream?
Well, I did delete a lot of things over there so my bad. Anyway, here is some stuff I posted in the past about the problems with wound guts; Quote:
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Also, I did a Christmas concert with one of the orchestras with the Olidoxa set-up Bass and it was great on the Nut Cracker and such. Quote:
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Between the Bass I had the combo (aka olidoxas), and the Lion head Bollbach I had strung now with Jaegar Fortes, I wanted to try the Eudoxas with the Jaegars. Now I have Jaegar/Eudoxa on one Bass and Oliv/Jaegar on another. Both Basses now have another interesting and workable combination. The Jaegars were stiff on the Lion and the Eudoxas a bit soft on the other Bass. The other Bass works fine with the Jaegars and the lion loves the Eudoxas on the bottom. Thanks to watching Bill Blossom (NY Phil) do a recital on his Bollbach Bass (almost a twin to mine) with just a Eudoxa 'A'. It gave me the idea to switch the bottom strings between the two Basses. Now, Eudoxas on and off can be dangerous but I had no more or less problems than I did with Obligatos in the past. Just be careful and put some graphite in the properly grooved slots. |
#5
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Yeah, Ken, as a matter of fact, your contributions over there actually made me want to try this combo. I read those posts many times! It's only recently that a couple of folks have had some Olivs come apart in their hands, which led them to speculate that maybe there was a "bad batch" out there at the moment. Speculation isn't enough to make me take the deal off the table, but I do want to research before I plop down the $$$. It's still most likely going to be my next string experiment. I contacted Pirastro to see what they have to say, and I'll probably give Lemur a call as well.
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#6
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QC..
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I like the Eudoxa bottoms so much now that I am thinking of trying the G and D as well on some Bass some day. |
#7
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I just fired off an Email, I didn't contact anyone directly.
I was wondering about the Eudoxas on top as well. It just seemed that everyone fell pretty deeply in love with Oliv, so I wanted to have a date with her too. |
#8
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Marcus,
You know I dearly love Olivs, but with at the moment it looks as if Pirastro is having quality control problems. At the price, I wouldn't buy a new set until it's clear that Pirastro has solved the problem. You're young; wait it out. Ah, impetuous youth...you should have seen me on Place Pigalle in the 50's. |
#9
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THAT would be worth buying tickets for.
I'm just going to sit tight for now. Pirastro hasn't fallen over themselves in response to my Email anyway. I'm not necessarily surprised, but since I get fast responses from companies like TI and Velvet, I can only surmise that Pirastro is unconcerned about possible quality control issues. Maybe if my last name was Patitucci.... At any rate, I've got a set of Spiros on right now that are speakin', so no rush. At least I know those will never fall apart on me. |
#10
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Okay, I heard back from them today; here's their message;
Dear Mr Johnson, Thank you for your interest in our PIRASTRO double bass Oliv/Eudoxa strings. Much to our regret, the requested strings are not available right now due to high demand from our dealers. Thank you for your understanding. Best regards, Pirastro GmbH Customer Service Uhhh..... Okay..... thanks for clearing that up.... If they ever decide to get out of the string business, they may have a bright future in politics. |
#11
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a word from ratso harris...
a funny story about olivs... i was talking to ratso harris, gushing because i had the chance to try out a pair of olivs on a loaned bass for a gig...(brief digression: having the opportunity to play a steady gig at smalls in ny, i've had the pleasure to be influenced by a lot of gut string bass players- ari roland, neal caine, and neal miner-thus my goal to get a pair of guts or something close to that sound)
... anyway, i was telling ratso how much i loved them and can't wait to get a pair or some straight gut strings... ratso tells me not to bother because you can get the same gut sound from steel strings- his words: " playing with gut strings is like wiping your a!@ with a leaf- there is no reason when you have toilet paper". does anybody agree with his opinion of achieving that gut string sound on gut strings, and if so what brand of steel string? |
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